Iron Mist GvG Build, Snares Aplenty

in-game testing. Check the posts below for the new skills and stats.

Iron Mist is a powerful skill, granting the ability to slow an opponent to a crawl. It also has a significant drawback, granting the same opponent immunity to damage from all sources except for lightning.

The solution? Build around it. Make sure that all sources of damage come from either lightning, life stealing, or degeneration.

While we're at it, let's take advantage of the only other hex in the earth line: Grasping Earth. Grasping Earth is surprisingly similar to Iron Mist in that it grants its user a great snare, but at the cost of granting the opponent a defensive capability - in this case, an extra 24 armor against physical damage. Luckily for us, since we are already building around Iron Mist, we get to eliminate both skills' drawbacks at once.

Suggested GvG build:

1. Air Flagger

E/R

11+4 Air
6+1 Earth
10+1 Energy Storage
8 Wilderness Survival

Lightning Strike, Lightning Orb, Gale, Blinding Flash, Iron Mist, Troll Unguent, Storm Chaser, *Ether Prodigy

Air staff with enchanting mod


2. Axe Warrior

W/E

5 Air
6 Earth
3+1 Strength
12+4 Axe
10+1 Tactics

Sprint, Frenzy, Gale, Grasping Earth, *Eviscerate, Executioners, Healing Signet, Res Signet

Axe with lightning mod


3. Sword Warrior

W/E

5 Air
4 Earth
1+1 Strength
12+4 Sword
11+1 Tactics

*Charge, Frenzy, Gale, Grasping Earth, Sever Artery, Final Thrust, Healing Signet, Res Signet

Sword with lightning mod


4. Air Spiker/Support

E/Mo

11+4 Air
6+1 Earth
8+1 Energy Storage
10 Healing
2 Protection

Lightning Strike, Lightning Orb, Blinding Flash, Heal Party, Iron Mist, Convert Hexes, *Ether Prodigy, Res Signet


5. Mesmer Hex

Me/E

8+1 Fast Cast
11+4 Illusion
9+1 Inspiration
7 Earth

*Crippling Anguish, Conjure Phantasm, Iron Mist, Power Drain, Drain Enchantment, Inspired Enchantment, Mantra of Persistence, Res Signet


6. Necro Hex

N/E

11+4 Blood
2+1 Soul Reaping
11+1 Curses
5 Air
7 Earth

Faintheartedness, Life Siphon, Malaise, *Offering of Blood, Suffering, Iron Mist, Gale, Res sig


2 standard Boon Prots

Mo/N x 2

10 Blood
10+1 Prot
11+4 Divine Favor

Reversal of Fortune, Guardian, Mend Ailment, Prot Spirit, *Offering of Blood, Holy Veil, Divine Boon, Contemplation of Purity



General Comments

The build has four copies of Gale, two copies of Grasping Earth, and four (!) copies of Iron Mist. Every non-monk character has at least one hex snare, and the mesmer has two.

In a 1v1 matchup, the air flagger should be able to disable a cripple shot ranger with constant use of Blinding Flash, although smart use of a long bow before the caster can get into range may be problematic. Gale is to be used sparingly, so as not to conflict with the exhaustion from Ether Prodigy. When not flagging, this character helps spike down weak targets and disables warriors and rangers with Blinding Flash.

Both of the warriors use a lightning prefix on their weapons to avoid the drawbacks of the two earth snares. (I am assuming that both the weapon damage and the warrior skill damage are converted to lightning with the use of this mod. Can anyone confirm?)

The sword warrior is to spam Sever Artery on as many different enemies as possible so as to spread degen while building up adrenaline for Final Thrust. This warrior must also be extra careful when using Frenzy, as it does not have a backup stance with which to cancel.

Both warriors are semi-self sufficient with Healing Signet.

The build should be able to split well. In cases where a symmetrical 4|4 split is desired, each team could have a monk, an air spiker, a warrior, and a degen hexer. Both the necro and the mesmer have the ability to spread up to -8 degen on a single target.

The most difficult aspect of the build to play will most likely be coordination of the various hex snares, especially the use of Iron Mist itself, to ensure that two players don't use it at once on a single target. Chain casting Iron Mist will be useful and necessary for both general play and especially for delaying an enemy flag runner to ensure a morale boost.

As in all non-spike builds, warriors are the primary source of sustained, on-target damage. Without the presence of Martyr, conditions will be an issue. However, given the amount of snares in the build, and the difficulty in removing hex snares compared to condition snares, cripple on our own warriors will not be quite as debilitating. Blind will still be a major issue and will need to be removed whenever possible.

Against teams with warriors - and as mentioned previously, all successful non-spike builds rely on warriors for their major source of damage - hex snares will need to be used frequently and covered, and those who become targeted by the warriors will need to kite constantly. Blind should help, but without cripple shot rangers who can spam snares to their heart's content, this build relies on hex snares to neutralize warriors, so make sure they get good cover and stay on for as long as possible. This means that the elementalists, who do not have cover hexes of their own, will need to call for help to coordinate hex cover.


This build has not yet been tested, and I appreciate any comments or criticisms.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/gw/forums/index.php?showtopic=4928